If you are interested in boating and sailing, I would advise you to learn some terminology first. Even though you can use the word boat for any type of watercraft, of any size, that is designed to float, or travel on water, there are also all sorts of different kinds of boats that you should at least be familiar with if you are interested in boating.

Let me just briefly mention that smaller boats are usually used on inland body of water, such as a lake, whereas larger boats are used in a larger body of water. Furthermore, naval tradition also requires referring to submarines as boats, rather than ships.

In addition to that, boats are widely known for having the variety of shapes and sizes, as well as variety of construction methods. All of these properties are influenced by the intended purpose of the boat, as well as the available materials and local traditions. That being said, we will try to briefly explain different kinds of boats, their usage, and to try to give more information about different boats in general.

A yacht is a type of sailing vessel that was originally used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates. In fact, the very word your yacht means ‘hunt’ in Dutch. At the present day, the term is used to refer to do different types of watercraft, used for sailing and power boats.

The length of the yacht ranges from 33 feet up to hundreds of feet. In addition to that, yards can also be luxury crafts, as well as status symbols.

The term riverboat is used to refer to a watercraft designed for inland navigation. As it has been previously mentioned, inland navigation refers to both teeing that occurs on lakes, rivers and artificial waterways. These kinds of boats can be used for all sorts of purposes. Generally, they are used for carrying trades, as well as for freight and people transfer. Furthermore, there are certain riverboats that are designed for special purposes, such as patrol crafts, survey boats and fire boats.

As for a ferry, or a ferryboat, it’s a type of vessel that is usually used to carry passengers. Sometimes however, these vessels are also used to transfer vehicles or cargo across a body of water. Some ferryboats operate on a regular level, and have many stops. These ferryboats are then often called and refer to as water taxis or water buses.

A type of small boat which is often carried on a larger vessel is called a dinghy. Sometimes this small boat is also towed by a larger boat or vessel. Usually dinghies have outboard motors, or are they are powered by rowing. The unusual term for this vessel is in fact a loanword from Bengali, Urdu and Hindi.

It’s also worth mentioning that catamarans are the most common type which has two symmetric hulls. This is completely understandable, considering the fact that they are mostly used for racing, sailing and as fishing boats. In fact, up to 70% of all fast passenger and car passenger ferries are catamarans.